Dasht-e-Tanhai, Meesha Shafi (Coke Studio, Season 5 Audio / Video)

Meesha Shafi wanted to pay tribute to one of the greatest poets in the Urdu language – Faiz Ahmad Faiz. Faiz Sahib was a close friend of Shafi’s grandfather and the song holds very deep personal meaning for her. She wanted to perform it in memory of Faiz Sahib for the 100th anniversary of his birthday which was last year. Dasht-e-Tanhai is a prime example of Faiz’s romantic poetry, before the shift in his artistry to realism and social comment. Dealing with the theme of separation, Dasht-e-Tanhai was written in the Hyderabad jail during Faiz Sahib’s first term in prison between 1951 and 1953. It was originally published in Dast-e-Saba and was titled ‘Yaad’.